Administration

To register an Alberta Libertarian Party requires 7,868 acceptable signatures or candidates in at least half of the 87 electoral districts. Go to the Contact Form in the menu above and enter your contact information. When we get enough people on board, we will start the process of registering the party.

Capitalism is an economic system that uses a high degree of capital (or productive) assets, has a high degree of division of labour, and requires a medium of exchange. Capitalism started with what is called the industrial revolution and got a big boost with American independence and the spread of a greater amount of freedom and property right. Capitalism produces a myriad of products and services that sustain higher populations and reduce poverty. (Unfortunately, the term capitalism is misused to refer to political systems that grant privileges to large companies in violation of free enterprise and property rights.)

Subsistence agricultural and cottage industry is another type of economy that uses some capital assets, has some division of labour, and uses a medium of exchange along with barter. A hunter and gatherer economy uses few capital assets, little division of labour, and has largely self sufficient groups which which may or may not barter or use some medium of exchange.

The three types of economies described above can all exist in the same region at the same time although if capitalism is present, it will dominant the economy.

A capitalist economy can function in any form of government, but will be most effective where there is freedom and protection of property right. Socialist, fascist, and dictatorship forms of government restrict free enterprise and property right. There is nothing stopping these forms of government from investing in productive assets, but they are subject to bureaucratic management which is less effective than private enterprise. Democracies are a mesh mash of socialism, fascism, dictatorship, and some property right all of which is subject to ineffective bureaucratic management.

The best form of government is a constitution that has laws that do no more nor less than protect the right of individuals to decide what they do with themselves and their possessions (property right) with provision to be made whole if that right is violated. All operations would be provided in the private sector where private ownership would avoid waste, the profit motive would provide low cost, efficient operations, innovation, and a high level of customer satisfaction, all in contrast to bureaucratic management. Under such a government, capitalism would flourish with peace and prosperity for all.

Libertarians are often missing the “spirit of the law” of liberty which is showing respect and consideration for others. When a libertarian is disrespectful, there is not going to be a court case to determine damages. What is going to happen is others are going to think of that person as a hypocrite and untrustworthy for upholding the principle of liberty. The libertarian may be thinking “who cares” or “suck it up”. Such a dismissive attitude is not going to win friends and influence people. The libertarian may think that they are going to live their life of liberty on their own, but that is not possible in our society with the current pervasive taxes and regulations.

The “letter of the law” of liberty (that everyone has property rights to choose what they do with themselves and their possessions (or the non-aggression principle)) is attractive to many people. Those people will join the cause of liberty if they are not disgusted by libertarians who violate the “spirit of the law” of liberty by their disrespectful and inconsiderate conduct.

If you are a libertarian, please take this idea of the “spirit of the law” of liberty seriously. Surely you want others to join you in the cause for liberty.

Money is useful or more correctly, essential, as a medium of exchange in a free enterprise, capitalistic economy. This type of economy has a large number of products and services, and a high degree of specialization. Consequently, people are occupied with their specialized work and don’t have time or means to produce all the products and services that they need and want. People exchange their specialized work for money and then use this money to exchange for the results of other people’s work. Money represents productive work and it is illegal and illegitimate to make money by non-productive means called counterfeiting. Counterfeit money does not represent productive work so that if it mixes in the money supply, the counterfeit money will dilute the value of the money representing productive work. This is a form of stealing and a violation of the property rights of everyone whose money has been devalued. Fractional banking is legal and consists of lending more than the bank has on reserve. These loans do not represent productive work since they are simply numbers added to an account balance. These loans enter the money supply and dilute or devalue the money. The difference between devaluation due to fractional banking and counterfeiting by private individuals, is that fractional banking is legal, illegitemate, and the scale is so large as to render the devaluation due to private counterfeiting irrelevant. Besides legalizing fractional banking, governments also engage in a manipulation of money to monetize debt. In this process, the government incurs an obligation and pays for it by printing money. Once again, this money does not represent productive work, will enter the money supply, and devalue the money. And again this is legal, illegitemate, and on a grand scale. The devaluation of money by fractional banking and government money manipulation is easy to do with fiat money which has no commodity base. Fiat money is simply paper supported by legal tender laws. The value of fiat money is not tied to anything like a precious metal, so the amount of fiat money can be increased at will. It is the people doing productive work that lose due to the devaluation of money. People tend to pay more for products and services over time, not because these things are worth more, but rather because the money is worth less. In a truly free enterprise economy, things get cheaper as the capital expands. Consider the difference between digging a hole with your bare hands or using a shovel or using a backhoe. Capital is productive resources and as people accumulate these resources they become more efficient and productive so that the cost of what they are producing decreases and things become cheaper. Computers have come down in price even in the midst of money devaluation. The computers are more dramatic because it is emerging technology. Gasoline priced in gold is cheaper in 2014 than it was in 1960. We should have stable money that keeps its value and fairly represents the productive work for which people are paid. This is possible if the devaluation of money by fractional banking and government money manipulation is illegal just like counterfeiting by individuals.

A wage is a price that employers are willing to pay for an employee. Prices are subject to the law of demand. We have all seen the effect of demand where a price goes up and people buy less or a price goes down and people buy more. Setting a minimum wage increases the price to employ a whole group of people which will eventually result in an increase in unemployment including those persons who will now give up on the job market and are not counted in government unemployment numbers. Employers will adjust the way they run their businesses by changing the duties of a fewer number of employees or perhaps by introducing capital assets so a fewer number of employees can be more productive. People work for low wages because their lack of skills and experience puts them at that level of productivity. The way to increase productivity and the associated wage level is to increase skills and experience. The first step to increased productivity is to gain skills and experience in a low paying job, a step that is not available for many due to minimum wage laws. Many politicians and their supporters think the minimum wage is compassionate while in fact it consigns many to despair of being able to work. One does wonder about the sincerity of politicians since they increase the minimum wage a few dollars rather than to something like thirty dollars. Minimum wage laws are a prime example of the untended consequences of government intervention in the economy where those it is supposed to help are actually hurt.

I have noticed in the press that once again government is saying that they are creating jobs. If government returning tax funds to the private sector creates jobs, then when the taxes are taken out of the private sector, jobs are destroyed. It would be more accurate to say that government is restoring previously destroyed jobs in the private sector while incurring administrative costs in taking the taxes out and then putting them back in. The next worst thing the government does is destroy productive jobs in the private sector and replace them with productive jobs in the public sector which are less effective due to bureaucratic management. The next worst thing the government does is destroy productive jobs in the private sector and replace them with unproductive jobs in the public sector. The next worst thing the government does is destroy productive jobs in the private sector and replace them with bureaucratic waste and inefficiency. Canadian governments take over 40% of the annual private sector income in taxes which is a tremendous loss in potential investment and the associated employment. Governments ignore the negative effect they have on the economy. When a government claims to be creating jobs either they are dishonest or they do not understand the impact of taxes on the economy. The truth is that the net effect of governments is to destroy jobs. Robert McFadzean

Check this out; especially the fourth reason which both Tim and I think is the most important one. It has to do with integrity in that we are all libertarians in our private lives, but we support something entirely different as voters.

Please support libertarian candidates in the current 2015 federal election. If we could elect even one libertarian in this election, it would give a big boost to the libertarian cause here in Alberta. Even a good showing in this election will be advantageous and help to get our provincial party going. Here are candidates who are running:

The word libertarian is derived from liberty which is synonymous with freedom. We were taught and learned as children that the way to get along with others and have fun together was to not hit, or be bossy, or mess with their stuff. The same principle continues to work among adults; we respect the right of others to conduct their lives as they choose, and use their possessions as they choose. We live in a culture of freedom. People work together, buy and sell, attend their various churches or no church, and cooperate in other community organizations. There is peace and prosperity. And when some among us violate the principle of respect for the person and possessions of others, there is less peace and prosperity. Libertarians get involved in politics because they would like to see the same culture of freedom apply in government as it does in their communities. Governments legislate regulations which dictate what people can and cannot do. Such regulations are illegitimate since the people sending representatives to government, have no authority to make these regulations. Forcing people to abide by government regulations is tyranny and is immoral. Government regulations violate the inalienable right of people to decide for themselves what they will do. Government regulations are illegitimate, immoral, and just plain wrong. Taxation is also something that people have no authority to do among themselves. Consequently, people cannot authorize government representatives to tax. Taxation is taking other people’s property under threat of violence which is immoral. Taxation wrongly violates a person’s inalienable right to property. Taxation is also illegitimate, immoral, and just plain wrong. Government regulation and taxation stand in stark contrast to the culture of freedom in our private lives. The libertarian objective is to make government operate according to our culture of freedom rather than in opposition to it. Robert McFadzean

Liberty is based on property right. Property means a person’s body and their legitimately owned possessions. Right means that a person has the responsibility to choose what they do with themselves and their possessions and be accountable for those choices. Property right also means that a person can defend themselves and their possessions against aggression. Property right is an inalienable right. Inalienable means that it is part of being a live person and cannot be taken away. It is a God given or natural right. No government has the authority to grant or retract property rights. Property right does not mean that a person can do whatever they want without respect or consideration for the property rights of others. If a person could choose to assault another and that was acceptable, then property rights would have no value. Property rights can only be useful when most everyone avoids violating the property rights of other people. In a free and just society with property rights, when a person’s property right is violated, the violator loses their property right to the extent that they must compensate for or make whole the property that they violated. Most people in Canada have experience with property rights. Most Canadians do not fear that they are going to be assaulted or have their possessions stolen. They have been taught as they grew up to respect property rights and that it is wrong to harm others or to steal their things. This is the basis of the freedom we enjoy in Canada. This freedom is the result of how Canadians treat each other. The police can help with those who violate property rights, but there would not be enough police in a society that doesn’t recognize property rights. When the culture of a country does not teach and abide by property rights, the police will be as corrupt as everyone else. Governments cannot coerce people to be free. Freedom and the associated prosperity is the result of a people with a culture of property rights. Robert McFadzean